Women’s Wear Daily published an interesting interview this week with Charity: water’s Scott Harrison about luxury brands’ role (right now and in the future) in world-wide philanthropy.

Here is an excerpt:

WWD: How have your collaborations with fashion companies helped?

S.H.: Our most successful campaign has been with Saks Fifth Avenue. [Since 2008, the retailer has sold $5 rubber bracelets at various outlets, with 100 percent of proceeds going to Charity: Water.] We raised about $700,000 — enough to bring clean water to 140 communities. You’ll see us continue to do more with Saks. We’ve done stuff with Miss Sixty. We did a great campaign with Theory that raised $80,000 for Ethiopia.

WWD: How would you characterize the fashion industry as opposed to another group in terms of fund-raising?

S.H.: I think the fashion industry has very high standards for the kinds of organizations that it’ll support. I think that might hint at why we’ve been successful. When we started this, design was so important to us. Just because we’re a charity, why should our Web site look bad? Our attention to detail, to design, using large-scale photography [has helped].

WWD: How important are products and merchandise?

S.H.: It’s not a huge part of the bottom line, but it’s really important for awareness. We’d like to work with more brands. I think there’s a merchandising piece that we’ve started to explore with Saks but there’s a lot more. We haven’t really gone to full scale.

To read about what Monique Pean, Swarvoski and Saks have done specifically for Charity: water, click here.

It’s so great to hear about the real results of what luxury can do for a charity and what we as consumers can start just by shopping!

Lively (wearing the Divine Rock necklace) hosted the store opening in SoHo

As this blog has highlighted before, 1 in 6 people do not have access to clean drinking water – charity: water aims to change these stats by providing the funds and manpower to build freshwater wells in areas throughout the world where it is so desperately needed.

100% of the proceeds from the Divine Rock Light Necklace goes to charity: water. The necklace with a clear crystal drop and silver chain has an edgy, organic feel. Retailing at only $88, it’s an easy purchase for a good cause!

Swarovski's Divine Rock Light Necklace, $88 - 100% of proceeds benefit charity: water